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"For the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing."' Deuteronomy 2:7
The project to restore the building exterior is coming to a close. No, it did not take forty years, but most of the Israelites who crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land were born in the wilderness. Similarly, I and many others have never known Bethesda without the restoration project. The project started early in 2012, a little over 5 years ago. The original cost estimate was for between $3.4 million and $3.7 million dollars. As work started and additional items were added, estimates were set as high as $3.85 million. Bethesda set a goal to raise $5 million dollars to fund this and other capital needs. The fundraising was ultimately successful and gifts came in such a way as the project never had to be slowed for financial reasons and no money ever had to be taken from any other source. As we sit here now on the cusp of the project completion, total cost will be less than $3.3 million. Furthermore, the project is being hailed as a model for future restoration. We owe a great deal of thanks to our architect, Gene Pandula of Pandula Architects, and our contractors, Greg and Kenny Lewis of Conklin and Lewis. Also, as He did Israel, the Lord our God has blessed what we have done.
Fred Staley
Associate for Administration
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SUNDAY, MARCH 12
, 2017
United Thank Offering InGathering
Preacher: The Rector
- Parking Permitted from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. -
*8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
8:45 a.m. Coffee Hour, Parish Hall
*9:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist
9:00 a.m. Children's Worship, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. Pre-K Class, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. Kindergarten & 1st Grade Class, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. 2nd & 3rd Grade Class, Sunday School Hall
10:00 a.m. 4th & 5th Grade Class, Sunday School Lounge
10:00 a.m. 6th & 7th Grade Pre- Confirmation Class, Library
10:00 a.m. 8th Grade Confirmation Class, ECW Room
10:00 a.m. 9th-12th Grade Pilgrimage Group, Youth Room
10:00 a.m. Adult Forum, Parish Hall
10:00 a.m. Bible Study, Guild Room
*#11:00 a.m. Morning Prayer and Holy Eucharist
12:15 p.m. Church Lecture Tour
12:15 p.m. Coffee Hour, Parish Hall
* Nursery care for infants through age 3 is
available from 7:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
# These services will be live-streamed.
You may watch the service online
HERE
.
Click here to view the service leaflet for this Sunday.
Click here to view this week's Bethesda Happenings.
PARKING: Persons attending Sunday services will be allowed to park on ALL of Barton Avenue and Pendleton Avenue
without receiving a ticket until 6:30 p.m.
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Adult Forum: Lenten Series |
10:00 a.m. | Parish Hall
Using the highly-acclaimed
Living the Questions series of videos, Father Burl and Tom O'Brien will lead an interactive discussion of topics relating to our Christian Faith and its implications, this week asking how we restore broken relationships. The format will consist of a 20-minute video presentation by leading scholars and theologians on a topic, followed by questions and discussion of the issues raised in the video.
Lectionary-Based Bible Study | 10:00 a.m. | Guild Room
Do you want to go deeper into the readings for today? Join us for a discussion of the collect, Old Testament, Psalm, New Testament, and Gospel readings, and how they inform our 21st century lives. Whether you've come from the service earlier in the day or are about to attend the later service, this class is sure to enhance your encounter with the holy scriptures.
Church Lecture Tour will be following the 11:00 a.m. service. Tours begin in the Chancel (front of the church), immediately following the service.
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Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe.
The eyes of all look upon you and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, giver of life and salvation.
You are invited to join
the vestry and clergy of Bethesda-by-the-Sea for a
candlelight service
followed by a wonderful evening of fellowship.
Please choose whichever date works for you:
March 14, 16, or 17
5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Garden Chapel
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led by
The Rev. J. Edwin (Ed) Bacon, Jr.
Friday, March 17
7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Orientation and Beginning Conversation,
Parish Hall
Saturday, March 18
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Lenten Retreat
($20, lunch included), Parish Hall
Sunday, March 19
Preaching at all services
10:10 a.m. Adult Forum, Parish Hall
 In an increasingly divided world where anxieties corrode relationships, systems, and institutions, and casual conversation is tense and discourse has been replaced by shouts and accusations, and The Rev. Ed Bacon offers hope in reorientation, salve in returning to grace and generosity of spirit. Basing his ministry in Henri Nouwen's concept of leaving the house of fear, where one builds barriers that isolate and insulate, and moving into one's house of love, where grace and forgiveness break down barriers, FatherBacon will guide participants in this year's Lenten Retreat on a journey that seeks wholeness and redemption for a more Christ-centered and light-filled life. Join the Bethesda community and guests on Friday evening and Saturday as Father Bacon, renown preacher, spiritual leader, recently retired rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, and author of the bestselling
8 Habits of Love: Overcome Fear and Transform Your Life, work together toward a holy Lent and a transformed soul.
8 Habits of Love: Overcome Fear and Transform Your Life
is available for purchase in the Shoppe at Bethesda.
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Wednesday, March 15 | 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Christian Hospitality in a Multi-faith World led by The Rev. Canon Elizabeth Geitz is postponed and will begin next Wednesday, March 22.
Community Supper
6:00 to 6:30 p.m. (serving starts at 5:45 p.m.) | Parish Hall
The cost is $10 for adults; $5 for children under 12; $25 family max (payable at the door).
This week, March 15, we will serve arugula salad, southern-style shrimp, cheesy grits (with and without bacon), mixed vegetables, and chocolate cream pie. Kindly
RSVP HERE* or call Ayana at (561) 655-4554.
*In order to properly plan and prepare the supper, we need your reservations by noon on Monday.
Cantate Choir
6:30 to 7:40 p.m. | Choir Room
This intergenerational choir is open to adults of all ages and to youth as young as third grade. Contact Jessica Hitchcock at
hitchcock@bbts.org.
Responding to Pain without Prescriptions
6:30 to 7:40 p.m. | Library
A specialist with The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Ellen Slawsby will present information about the relaxation response and methods to decrease the intensity, frequency and duration of pain through mind/body techniques. The skills presented will help improve the quality of day to day life with chronic pain by improving mood, coping skills and decreasing anxiety.
Yoga
6:30 to 7:40 p.m. | Parish Hall
Physical therapist and yoga instructor, Emily Large, invites all adults for an evening of yoga. A requested donation of $10 per class.
Compline
7:45 to 8:00 p.m. | Church
A fitting end to our Wednesday evenings, compline offers a peaceful and meditative sacred time in the middle of our often frenetic weeks.
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This Sunday's Readings in Context
Parishioner Tom O'Brien, a Canon and Examining Chaplain for Scripture of this diocese, writes brief background descriptions of the Sunday readings. We thank Tom for sharing his learning and love of Scripture with us in this way.
Genesis 12:1-4a
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the "primeval history" which ends with the Tower of Babel story -- an "etiology" (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram's lineage back to Noah's son, Shem (which means "name" in Hebrew and from which we get the word "Semites").
Today's reading begins the "ancestral history" in which YHWH calls Abram (whose name is the same root word as "Abba" or father) to go to a land that YHWH will show him. There, Abram will be a father of a great nations and (as a descendent of Shem) his "name" will be great.
In Verse 3 is the phrase "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (which Paul interpreted as a blessing on the Gentiles through Abraham). This phrase is also translated as "by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves" - or in other words, people will say "may we be like Abraham."
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Paul's letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) - at least ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written. Its over-all purpose was to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.
In today's reading, Paul emphasizes that Abraham's righteousness (right relationship with God) was a result of Abraham's faithfulness. In Paul's epistles, the word "Faith" is almost always better understood a "Faithfulness." For most modern persons, "Faith" is understood primarily as a cognitive assent to one or more propositions, but "faithfulness" is an active living into one's beliefs through grace and trust in God. In the last verses of today's reading, Paul continues his discussion of the law and its limitations and emphasizes that mere obedience to the law is not sufficient for the fullness of a right relationship with God.
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141 South County Road · Palm Beach, FL 33480
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Bethesda's Mission is to experience the clear and strong presence of God and to understand and spread Christ's teachings through collective worship, learning, and service.
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Don't forget to set your
clocks forward one hour
on Saturday evening, March 11!
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2017 Lent and Easter Schedule
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WEEKDAY SERVICES
TUESDAYS
8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist in the Garden Chapel
WEDNESDAYS
12:05 p.m. Holy Eucharist in the Chancel;
1:15 p.m. Lenten luncheon, Parish Hall
(Cost is $3.00)
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United Thank Offering InGathering (UTO)
The United Thank Offering (UTO) is a ministry of the Episcopal Church. Founded and administered by Episcopal Church Women (ECW) since 1889, UTO continues to address both domestic and international needs through the promotion, collection, and distribution of monies through grants. The blue envelopes will remain in the pews this week. Checks should be made out to Bethesda-by-the-Sea with UTO on the memo line. Each year, 100% of the collected offering is granted!
May we give prayerfully, joyfully, and generously in the blue envelopes this
Sunday, March 12.
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Spring Carnival and Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday, April 15
10:00 a.m. to noon | Garth
We're bringing back our Spring Carnival on Saturday, April 15. It will be a fun-filled event for all ages. We will have inflatable games, food, an antiques/used books marketplace, and multiple Easter egg hunts for various ages. Invite your friends to come experience a wonderful Spring celebration!
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Bethesda Memorial Scholarships
Through the generosity of families associated with the parish, Bethesda has long been fortunate to administer a scholarship program to students graduating from schools in Palm Beach County who intend to matriculate at colleges or universities in the fall. This year we have moved the application process online, and details about the Bethesda Memorial Scholarships and application forms are now available on the church website HERE. Applications and supporting documents are due on April 3, and all materials, except school transcripts, may be submitted online. Awards will be determined by mid-April, and Scholarship Recognition Sunday is August 6, at which we will recognize the scholarship recipients for this year as well as those continuing in their college careers. For more information, contact Father Burl at salmon@bbts.org.
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Palm Beach Fellowship Interfaith Dialogue
5:30 p.m. | Parish Hall
The Palm Beach Fellowship of Christians and Jews will present an interfaith dialogue on "The Meaning of Israel to Jews, Christians and Muslims." The conversations will be among Rabbi Howard Shapiro, Imam Nasir Ahmed, and Canon Tom O'Brien, and beginning at 5:30 p.m. and ending at 6:45 p.m. with time for questions and answers until 7:00 p.m. Admission is free for Fellowship Members and a $10 offering is requested from non-members to cover expenses. Contact Sherri Gilbert at (561) 833-6150 or click here to e-mail her.
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Needs Your Help!
The Church Mouse is in need of your gently-used donations such as shoes, handbags, scarves, hats, gloves, and belts.
We are always open for donations at the "Donor Door" located on the south side of the building, Monday through Friday from
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Scheduled donation pickups occur year round and can be
arranged by calling us
at
(561) 659-2154.
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We pray for...
Andy, Angela, Anita, Anna, Arthur, Barbara, Becky, Bernadette, Bill, Brooks, Camilla, Caroline, Chad, Claudia, David, DeShawn, Earl, Ed, Ellen, Eric, Evan, Gail, Gay, Holly, Jan, Jane, Joan, Joe, John, Joyce, Kehs Family, Kimberly, Laniyah, Leslie, Mariette, Matthew, Murdock Family, Nancy, Pam, Pat, Patricia, Patsy, Patti, Peg, Peggy, Penny, Pineiro Family, Raquel, Rebecca, Ryan, Saliyah, Sara, Shirley, Smith Family, Starla, Stephen, Susan, Taryn, Thomas, Tonia, Trudi, Vince, Vincent, Virginia, Ward, Wallace Family, Ward,
and those serving our country...
Benjamin, Clara, Erik, Harold, Herbert, John, Mantis, Michael, and Tommy.
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